Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will be adding another task to his already full plate for the 111th Congress: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has placed him in charge of “incumbent retention” for endangered Democrats.

Pelosi recruits Van Hollen for new role

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will be adding another task to his already full plate for the 111th Congress: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has placed him in charge of “incumbent retention” for endangered Democrats.

Van Hollen, who initially thought about making a run for the Democratic Caucus chairmanship following Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s departure for the White House, is already chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the upcoming cycle, reprising the role he has played for the past two years.

Story Continued Below

Van Hollen will also get more money and staff, although he and Pelosi are still working out the details.

“As DCCC chairman, Chris Van Hollen was the maestro of this year’s historic election that resulted in a second wave,” Pelosi said in a statement announcing Van Hollen’s new role as “assistant to the speaker, focusing on policy issues and incumbent retention.”

With “incumbent retention” now included in his job description, Van Hollen will be taking over more of Emanuel’s role in the Democratic leadership. It will be a challenge: Following the Democratic victories last month, there are now 83 Democrats from districts won by President George W. Bush in 2004, compared with just five Republicans in districts won by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) that same year.

Democratic strategists consider up to 70 Democrats threatened heading into the next cycle, and the DCCC itself has a debt of nearly $20 million to wrestle with, according to the committee’s post-election disclosure report with the Federal Election Commission.

The National Republican Congressional Committee reported just $6 million in debt in its post-election report.

Emanuel’s departure from the House has improved Van Hollen’s prospects there — assuming he doesn’t jump ship at some point to make a run for the Senate. Emanuel was seen as a speaker-in-waiting by many Democrats, especially since Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland and Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina are all in their late 60s.

Newly elected Democratic Caucus Chairman John B. Larson of Connecticut took over Emanuel’s leadership seat without having to battle Van Hollen for the position, thanks to Pelosi’s intercession, but it is unclear which role has more potential upside.